STUDY: 50% of Kids Use Social Media Before They Turn 10

This is alternately informative and disturbing: a new study by UK Internet safety non-profit Knowthenet found that a majority of children begin using social media before they even turn ten years old.

The top networks they use, in order: Facebook, WhatsApp, BBM (it’s a British thing) and Snapchat. So maybe our society is a little too social? Also:

“The poll found 21 per cent of children had posted negative comments, starting from an average age of 11, and 26 per cent had ‘hijacked’ another person’s account and posted without permission.”

Pre-teen trolls? Now we’ve seen it all.There’s an infographic after the jump.

We understand why infants love mobile; the last time we visited our neighborhood bar with friends, the couple’s 2-year-old couldn’t stop playing with his dad’s iPhone. Mobile enables social, so the fact that children are setting up their own accounts earlier and earlier makes perfect sense. But is it a good thing? Ehhhh…

The study also found that less than 33% of parents feel confident about their ability to protect their kids from bad stuff on social. Note to relevant brands: this is a chance for you to emphasize the fact that you’re safe for kids.